Freebie Friday: The Zelda Heart Piece Pillow Cover

Here’s a sweet pixel style Valentine’s Day project for any Legend of Zelda or video game fan!
I would have taken the chance to deplete my suiting stash some more, but I found a better Valentine’s themed project in my quilting fabrics.
Each little square of cotton fabric is sewn together as a grid to make one of the many well-known pixilated icons of the Legend of Zelda video games. I’ve seen a lot of 8- & 16-bit quilts before and I while I’ve made tons of quilts in the past I haven’t had a chance to make a pixel one yet. I’m glad I finally got the chance 😀 It went better than I thought going through my cotton stash. Cutting up all the cotton squares really helped use up some fabrics that I thought I would never get rid of, so making pixel projects really helps with stash busting ^-^ I can’t wait to work on another one!
I thought making the heart pixel into a pillow cover was a good bet, because you then you can see it on your couch or bed everyday and makes a perfect gift for your Valentine ❤ If you know a little bit about quilting I’m sure this project will be a breeze for you. And if not, it’s not a terrible way to get started. All the little pieces can get overwhelming, but the guideline makes it really easy to put together one piece at a time.

Difficulty:
The concept is pretty easy to understand, but getting all the little pieces together can take some time and careful lining up
Makes one 16” x 16” pillow cover

Before you begin:
1. Check out the quilting chart here (it’s not necessary to print, it’s just a guideline)
2. Cut out your fabric pieces following this chart:

1. We make the grid pattern by sewing rows of squares, then sewing the rows together. Your first step will be to sew square A-1 to A-2 with right sides together and a ¼” seam allowance. Open out the fabrics and sew A-3 to A-2, beginning the chain. Keep going in the manner following the quilting chart.

2. Here’s what it should look like as you continue building your first row. Keep at it until you have all 14 squares in the row. When you’re finished, iron the back of your strip pressing all the seam allowances to the right. Set this row aside and start working on the next row just like the previous one, numbers B-1 through B-14. This time, press all your seam allowances to the left. Your seam allowances should alternate, so in the end left or right isn’t really important so long as they’re alternating. The brunt of the piecing is now out of the way! You’re tons closer to creating your adorable Zelda heart 😀

3. When you have all your rows done you can start sewing the rows together to complete your picture. Start sewing one to the other following the quilting chart. When you line up your rows, your alternating seam allowances should allow you to nuzzle them against each other snugly. This will make it easier for your seams to line up. I like to pin the rows together at every seam to make sure they line up exactly. As I sew the rows, I keep the pins in place the whole time rather than taking them out, but I make sure to sew VERY SLOWLY and use the flywheel often so I don’t hit any pins. This ensures that your seams will line up until the very end when you’re done with your stitching and take all the pins out. Press your seam allowances all in one direction and give the whole project lots of ironing to make it nice and flat 😀 Once your rows are all together your Zelda heart is nearly complete!

4. Your image is almost done now! All that’s left is to add the borders. Sew the 13” borders to the left and right side of the heart. Press the borders away from the image.

5. Sew the 17” borders to the top and bottom of the heart, and press the borders away from the image.

6. This step is sort of optional, and I did it so the pillow cover could be more washer friendly. Take your scrap of light-colored fabric and layer it beneath your picture with the right sides facing up. Baste the layers together and this will enclose all the raw edges of your piecing so you’re less likely to get any raveling in the wash. Trim the excess fabric from the edges and you now have your completed pillow front!

7. Take your pillow back pieces and fold under ⅝” on one of the long (17”) sides. Iron the fold in place, then fold it again by another ⅝” and iron it in place. Sew the folds in place to create a double fold hem on one side. Repeat this with the other pillow back piece.

8. With right sides together, layer the pillow back pieces over the pillow front. Line one piece up at the top and the other at the bottom and the hemmed edges should overlap in the middle. Sew around the perimeter of the pillow cover. I actually did a French seam with mine so the edges looked prettier, but it’s up to you. Either way, stuff your cover with your pillow from because YOU’RE DONE!

So there we go! I hope you all have fun making it for that special nerdy Valentine ^-^ It takes a little bit of fussing, but once you get into the groove of piecing, it’s a lot of fun!
Do you have any favorite old-school video games with cute and memorable pixel designs? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll quilt it up next time 🙂
I hope you enjoy making this project, or if you’d rather have the one from the pictures, you can buy it from my Etsy.
If you do wind up making the project, I’d love to see it! And I’ll send you free patterns from my Monthly Crafting Challenge!